A new energy future for South Africa: The political ecology of South African renewable energy

Renewable energy remains a contested topic in South Africa. This paper argues that South Africa can build on the momentum surrounding its introduction of a feed-in tariff by enacting policies that may, if given adequate funding and political effort, allow the country to be a world leader in renewable energy. Given a variety of renewable energy policy options for moving forward, a majority of stakeholders consulted in this study strongly prefer the development of a renewable energy manufacturing cluster, in which government develops coordinated policy mechanisms that attract renewable energy manufacturers, over three other policies suggested by the authors. Interviews with key informants that play critical roles in this decision-making process suggest that there are reasons to remain cautiously optimistic about the country's renewable energy future while cognizant of the challenges that must still be overcome. Opportunities for a low carbon renewable energy transition in South Africa include the prevalence of broad stakeholder consultation, facilitated by civil society, and an innovative policy development context. Significant impediments also exist, however, and include pervasive social issues such as poverty and political inertia, along with the ongoing difficulties facing renewable energy technologies in reaching grid parity with inexpensive and abundant South African coal.     

Connecting political economies of energy in South Africa

The South African energy debate is and will remain a heated one. Given South Africa's history of racial inequality and contemporary concerns around sustainability, much of it rightly focuses on the links between energy, poverty and the environment. Yet, many contributions to the (mainstream) debate seem to have a somewhat one-sided focus that might hamper rather than stimulate the understanding of these links. They either display a strong technical, quantitative bias and/or lean towards rather simplistic ideas about policy processes and dynamics. The article argues that many of these analyses could benefit greatly from a critical focus on the political economy of energy: the political–economic power structures that influence both many energy policies and the issues of energy equality and sustainability. Two major global developments emphasise the importance of this focus: the recent financial crisis and South Africa's role in the increasingly tense geopolitics of energy in Africa. The article concludes with some suggestions on how currently disparate political economies of energy could be better connected.     

Energy efficiency,security of supply and the environment in South Africa: Moving beyond the strategy documents

Energy efficiency is one of the most potent and cost effective ways of meeting the demands of sustainable development. It has in fact been referred to as the best energy resource. Way back in 2005 the South African Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) published its Energy Efficiency Strategy in support of some of the objectives enlisted in the 1998 White Paper on Energy Policy. The Strategy set a national target for energy efficiency improvement of 12% by 2015 against the baseline year 2000. The document further predicted that, with a business as usual model of energy usage, at the projected rate of national economic development, there would be a need to invest in new power generating capacity by around 2007. Despite the policy foresight and seemingly enthusiastic efforts, though, the dawn of 2008 saw the country gripped in an electric power crisis, with a capacity shortfall of over 10%. This paper looks at what could have gone wrong, examines energy efficiency policies and measures in other countries and how these lessons could be adopted to the South African context.     

Managing energy demand through transport policy: What can South Africa learn from Europe?

For years, the world has enjoyed the luxury of inexpensive transport fuels, resulting in the continuous expansion of transport demand and vast improvements in mobility levels. The threat of peak oil and other environmental concerns, however, are forcing a paradigm shift in terms of transport planning. In recent times, many developed nations have been investigating alternative ways and means of weaning themselves off oil as the main transport energy source and managing transport energy demand. South Africa is a developing nation that, in terms of transportation technology and policy, lags behind developed countries. This presents South Africa with the opportunity to learn from other countries’ triumphs and mistakes and to skip over obsolete investment patterns and ineffective policy. It needs to be determined what South Africa can do to bend the stream of continuously growing transport (energy) demand, without hampering growth in mobility. Solutions can potentially be found by looking at the European Union’s past and present situation and responses. This paper summarises various European energy management transport policies. These policies are translated into a South African context—pros, cons and implementation viability are identified.     

The EU–Africa Energy Partnership: Towards a mutually beneficial renewable transport energy alliance?

The European Union's EU–Africa Energy Partnership, with respect to its emphasis on transport fuels, aims to ensure that Member States can fulfil agreed upon commitments to sustainable energy via the importation of biomass grown in sub-Saharan Africa. This policy aims to reduce the dependence of developing sub-Saharan nations on fossil-fuels, while ensuring the global proliferation of alternative transport energy generation as a means to combat climate change. Though the policy seems equitable in theory, and indeed mutually beneficial, several important issues arise. The paper examines the EU–Africa Energy Policy in the context of biofuels in particular, with a view to identifying potential flaws and imbalances and making policy recommendations. Aside from establishing critical uncertainties, the study adduces environmental science, historical comparanda and economic theory in order to assess the various threats associated with aspects of the policy, especially in light of previous policies that have stifled the development of sub-Saharan economies. In addition, the paper has substantial relevance to developing and newly industrialized nations in Asia and South America also seeking to invest in biomass cultivation and production.     

Model projections for household energy use in developing countries

The residential sector plays an important role in the energy system of developing countries. In this paper we introduce a bottom up simulation model for household energy use. The model describes energy demand for several end-use functions based on a set of physical drivers, such as floor space and heating degree days. The model also recognizes different population groups: i.e. urban and rural households, each distinguishing five income quintiles. The model is applied to analyze possible future developments of residential energy use in five developing world regions: India, China, South East Asia, South Africa and Brazil. We find that in each of these regions cooking is currently the main end-use function, but that other functions, such as space heating, cooling and appliances become more important. At the same time, energy consumption slowly shifts towards modern fuels. The model also shows that climate policy can reduce residential energy emissions, but could also slow down the energy transition away from traditional fuels in low income classes.     

Forests,fuelwood and livelihoods—energy transition patterns in eastern Indonesia

The central thesis of the energy ladder model is a unidirectional transition from primitive to advance fuel with increased affluence of households. Although now largely discredited, this assumption remains a foundation of laissez-faire policies that anticipate energy transition resulting spontaneous forest recovery with economic development. Our results suggest that such policies can undermine broader policy objectives and actually worsen forest conditions in rural Indonesia. Based on a case study of forest margin communities in eastern Indonesia, we demonstrate that fuel subsidy reform did little to reduce rural household demand for fuelwood, while dramatically increasing fuelwood demand for processing agricultural products. Our results show how household decisions related to fuel sources are affected by non-economic considerations and external factors, such as opportunities to sell fuelwood. We argue that policy interventions that encourage energy transition of households do not necessarily improve forest conditions, as household fuelwood use may be a symptom, rather than a driver of deforestation and forest degradation. Thus policies to improve forest conditions should focus more on addressing the market environment of forest-margin communities, providing energy alternatives to small industries that are often the larger consumers of fuelwood.     

Façade insulation retrofitting policy implementation process and its effects on health equity determinants: A realist review

Fuel poverty and cold housing constitute a significant public health problem. Energy efficiency interventions, such as façade retrofitting, address the problem from a structural and long-term perspective. Despite evidence of the health benefits of insulation, little is known about the political and social contexts that contribute to social inequalities in receiving and experiencing health benefits from these interventions. We used a realist review methodology to better understand the mechanisms that explain how and why variations across different social groups appear in receiving energy efficiency façade retrofitting interventions and in their impact on health determinants. We considered the four stages of the policy implementation framework: public policy approach; policy; receiving intervention and impact on health determinants. We found strong evidence that certain social groups (low-income, renters, elderly) suffering most from fuel poverty, experience more barriers for undertaking a building retrofitting (due to factors such as upfront costs, “presentism” thinking, split incentives, disruption and lack of control), and that some public policies on housing energy efficiency may exacerbate these inequalities. This can be avoided if such policies specifically aim at tackling fuel poverty or social inequities, are completely free to users, target the most affected groups and are adapted to their needs.     

Placing barriers to industrial energy efficiency in a social context: a discussion of lifestyle categorisation

This paper compares how analyses of energy use and efficiency have developed in households and industrial small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). I focus on earlier studies that use lifestyle categories in examining household energy use, comparing them with studies of mainly Swedish industrial SMEs using the barrier concept in understanding energy efficiency. The main question is how the use of lifestyle categories in household research can be adapted to industrial SMEs. The rationale for using doing this is to find a new way to approach industrial energy use that can give new insight or raise new questions. Lifestyle categories capture the energy culture of a company, including how energy is perceived and what habits and routines are like. Lifestyle categorisation complements barrier analysis, deepening our understanding of how and why companies improve energy efficiency. Using lifestyle categories in an analysis can help policy makers, who can then direct specific policies to particular segments of companies.     

Why is South Korea's renewable energy policy failing? A qualitative evaluation

This study explores the causes of the South Korean government's failure to successfully deploy its renewable energy policy. Despite the South Korean government’s ongoing efforts since 2002 to promote the deployment of renewable energy, the established deployment target has not been met and the share of renewable energy supply in total primary energy supply is poor compared to peer countries with a similar level of economic development. Therefore, we attempt to find the causes of this policy failure using qualitative evaluation methods. Through the analyses, conducted using focused interviews and secondary data, we found that the domination of the fossil fuel and nuclear power industry's interests, inconsistent policy shifts, policy design that lacks sufficient support schemes, poorly coordinated government activities, and unsystemic and untimely monitoring and feedback have led to the failure of renewable energy deployment policies in South Korea. To overcome these problems, we suggest that the South Korean government should set more ambitious policy goals, establish a new independent organization that focuses on energy policy issues, use a varied policy mix, and secure political support from diverse policy actors.     

Spent nuclear fuel policies in historical perspective: An international comparison

The purpose of this article is to explain why the world's nuclear power countries differ from each other with respect to their spent nuclear fuel (SNF) policies. The emergence and evolution of three principal SNF approaches are analyzed: direct disposal, reprocessing and SNF export. Five broad explanatory factors are identified and discussed in relation to the observed differences in policy outcomes: military ambitions and non-proliferation, technological culture, political culture and civil society, geological conditions, and energy policy. SNF policy outcomes can generally be seen to result from a complex interaction between these broad factors, but it is also possible to discern a number of important patterns. To the extent that the five factors may undergo far-reaching changes in the future, the historical experience of how they have shaped SNF policies also give a hint of possible future directions in SNF policymaking around the world.     

Energy security issues at household level in India

Energy security at the household level implies ensuring assured and regular supply of clean energy fuels at an affordable price for various household activities. Threat to physical availability of clean energy fuels for cooking and lighting is determined through various indicators such as dependence on traditional fuels and limited access to clean fuels. Energy insecurity translates into various adverse social impacts. Financial threat to energy security is indicated by expenses incurred on energy fuels and affordability of clean fuels. Households spend a major portion of their income on acquiring energy fuels; however, due to high price of clean fuels, they continue to depend on traditional and inefficient fuels. There is an urgent need to address factors that pose a threat to energy security at the household level. In this regard, measures taken by the government agencies and other institutions are also reviewed. The paper also suggests the regulatory and policy interventions required to address the energy security issues at the household level.     

Household energy mix in Uganda

This paper presents evidence that household energy use in Uganda conforms to the energy ladder theory. As household income increases, solid and transitional fuel use evolves in an inverse U manner, while electricity consumption shows a direct relationship with income. Public infrastructure provision, income, and education are the key variables which can be targeted to reduce household dependence on solid-fuels while increasing non-solid fuel use. While education and public infrastructure have varying impacts on rural and urban households' energy mix, these variables generally reduce rudimentary fuel use and increase modern fuel consumption. Timely investment in electricity infrastructure is necessary to cater for burgeoning electricity demand as households become affluent. Strategies for reforestation, dissemination of improved cookstoves, relieving supply side constraints for modern fuels, and staggered payment options to lower the cost of entry for modern fuels can improve Ugandan households' energy security.     

Modeling household cooking fuel choice: A panel multinomial logit approach

We use three rounds of a rich panel data set to investigate the determinants of household cooking fuel choice and energy transition in urban Ethiopia. We observe that the expected energy transition did not occur following economic growth in Ethiopia during the decade 2000–2009. Regression results from a random effects multinomial logit model, which controls for unobserved household heterogeneity, show that households' economic status, price of alternative energy sources, and education are important determinants of fuel choice in urban Ethiopia. The results also suggest the use of multiple fuels, or ‘fuel stacking behavior’. We argue that policy makers could target these policy levers to encourage transition to cleaner energy sources.     

Increasing the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries: Policy implications

Although 40% of the global population relies on traditional biomass use, mainly firewood and charcoal, for cooking, traditional biomass has received very little attention in the current biomass debate, because of its considered primitive and unsustainable nature. In this review, we discuss how the sustainability of household cooking in developing countries can be improved.Indoor air pollution due to incomplete combustion of traditional biomass causes the death of 1.45 million people every year, mainly of women and children, who also carry the heavy burden of fuelwood collection. In addition, charcoal production and combustion is responsible for very high greenhouse gas emissions per unit of energy. On the other hand, fuelwood production and trade is of vital importance for local economies and serves as safety net for the poorest people. Moreover, fuelwood collection is not a driver of deforestation and global fuelwood shortage will not occur, despite local problems of fuelwood provision.There are two distinct policy alternatives to increase the sustainability of cooking in developing countries. The first option is to climb the energy ladder and to switch from solid fuels to fossil fuels (LPG or kerosene), biogas or electricity. As this largely avoids the severe health damages of traditional biomass use, this option is considered the most desirable by numerous countries and by international organizations. However, as most developing countries are far away from meeting the necessary requirements, related to infrastructure, economics and local culture, expecting a large-scale switch to liquid fuels or electricity is unrealistic.In that case, the second policy option, increasing the sustainability of the current traditional biomass system, must be considered. This can be realized by an integrated approach, in which national and regional fuelwood policies are adapted, improved systems for charcoal production are implied and improved stoves, in combination with chimneys, are distributed.     

Changing Sunshine: Analyzing the dynamics of solar electricity policies in the global context

Although solar costs have been dropping in recent years, solar power is still more expensive than conventional and other renewable energy options, and in most applications solar power still needs continuing government policy support. However, the need to achieve multiple objectives and ensure sufficient political support for solar power makes it difficult for policy makers to design an optimal solar power policy. The dynamic and uncertain nature of the solar industry, combined with the constraints imposed by broader economic, political and social conditions further complicates the task of policy making. In this paper, we present a framework to critically analyze the objectives behind different country policies, how factors such as macro-economic conditions and development paradigms affect the policy outcomes and finally, how these outcomes affect the overall cost reduction of solar energy. We find that while the extent of cost reduction through creation of large demand remains to be seen, it is essential for governments to provide adequate support for leapfrog RD&D, and exploit real comparative advantages across countries for effective solar cost reduction. Policy makers need to optimally design their policies by balancing national objectives and paying capacity with the global objective of solar power cost reduction in order to realize its full potential.     

South Africa's rapid electrification programme: Policy,institutional, planning,financing and technical innovations

This paper documents South Africa's electrification programme from the late 1980s to the present. The primary aim of the paper is to present the reader with an overview of the policy, institutional, planning, financing and technological developments and innovations that resulted in more than 5 million households receiving access to electricity between 1990 and 2007. Key aspects include the way in which a period of political change and policy disruption were essential to the programme's initiation, and the critical role played by organisations and individuals outside of national government in helping shape new electrification policies and strategies. In addition, the paper identifies the contribution of technology development in cost reduction and achieving the social aims of the programme. Several lessons may be drawn from the institutional and planning arrangements that the South African programme has developed, the significance of the development of appropriate cost-driven technical innovations and standards, and the acknowledgement of the social function of electrification and its funding from the fiscus (rather than through cross-subsidies).     

An assessment of Turkey’s nuclear energy policy in light of South Korea’s nuclear experience

Nuclear energy, which was once considered as the fuel of future and was abandoned after Chernobyl accident, has emerged recently in developed and developing countries as an option to combat climate change, to secure supply and to achieve sustainable development. Turkey, a developing country where most of the electricity is produced from fossil fuels and which has energy security problems, has adopted a new legislation giving financial incentives for nuclear power plant construction, along with a tender in 2008. However, the tender ended in a stalemate after the Council of State’s decision in November 2009. An evaluation of Turkey’s nuclear policy in light of South Korea’s nuclear experience gives us an explanation as to why Turkey failed in the last tender. Basically it was due to lack of a long term nuclear energy policy that comprehends social, economical, technical and political aspects of nuclear energy. Thus, it is argued that Turkey can benefit from nuclear energy if it formulates a comprehensive nuclear energy plan clearly interwoven with its economic development plans, establishes a proper legal framework and has domestic industry participation in nuclear technology development.     

Climate policies for road transport revisited (I): Evaluation of the current framework

The global rise of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and its potentially devastating consequences require a comprehensive regulatory framework for reducing emissions, including those from the transport sector. Alternative fuels and technologies have been promoted as a means for reducing the carbon intensity of the transport sector. However, the overall transport policy framework in major world economies is geared towards the use of conventional fossil fuels. This paper evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of current climate policies for road transport that (1) target fuel producers and/or car manufacturers, and (2) influence use of alternative fuels and technologies. With diversifying fuel supply chains, carbon intensity of fuels and energy efficiency of vehicles cannot be regulated by a single instrument. We demonstrate that vehicles are best regulated across all fuels in terms of energy per distance. We conclude that price-based policies and a cap on total emissions are essential for alleviating rebound effects and perverse incentives of fuel efficiency standards and low carbon fuel standards. In tandem with existing policy tools, cap and price signal policies incentivize all emissions reduction options. Design and effects of cap and trade in the transport sector are investigated in the companion article (Flachsland et al., in this issue).     

Rural household energy consumption pattern in the disregarded villages of Bangladesh

Energy is one of the most important ingredients required to alleviate poverty and realize socio-economic and human development, which is directly interconnected to the prominence of life in rural areas. An extensive survey on household energy consumption pattern interrelating socio-economic and demographic factors was carried out in the disregarded villages of Bangladesh using stratified random sampling technique of 120 households. This paper focuses on household energy consumption, various combinations of fuels and their expenditure in the study area. Biomass, kerosene, electricity, LPG and candle were found as the energy carrier used in the rural households in this study. The study shows that 92% households use biomass, 28% LPG, 89% kerosene, 78% electricity and 27% candle as fuel types. It was found that 56% households collected biomass from their own homesteads and/or agricultural lands. Bamboo, branches, cow dung, firewood, rice husk, leaves & twigs and straw were found as the biomass for household energy use. Average monthly household expenditure for total energy was US$ 9.67 (SE, 0.31) per month while the total monthly income of the household was US$ 123 (SE, 2.53). The ratio of the total monthly energy expenditure to the total monthly income was 7.86%. The study will be helpful to understand the energy consumption system and its expenditure in the rural areas of Bangladesh and to the policy formulation for energy production, consumption and utilization.